"This guy's alcohol tolerance is truly amazing!"
Recalling Jingliu's merely slightly flushed beautiful face before she took her leave, Caelus couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
He stored the empty wine jar into his ring space, planning to throw it into a trash can later. Littering is immoral behavior, and as a Masked Fool and a model of morality, he had to lead by example.
"Mara-Yang body, hmm, Mara-struck... it might not be impossible to cure completely."
Caelus sat in a casual posture, his fingers tapping on the stone table which had a cobblestone texture, lost in thought. He discovered that he seemed to have forgotten something.
Quick, go invite the invincible [Biao] Talisman.
The power to balance and split Yin and Yang; generally, we can only use one word to describe this kind of ability—
—Supermodel!
Look carefully at the three characters for 'Mara-struck' (Mo Yin Shen - Demonic Yin Body). You don't even need to break them apart or crush them; at a single glance, you can see that capitalized 'Yin'.
When the lifespan of a Xianzhou native reaches a certain point, the Five Decays strike one after another, and they fall into the Mara. At this time, extremely massive negative emotions exist in their mind. Isn't that just the dark side that can't be suppressed?
Then, could the state of normal sanity be correspondingly called the 'Divine Yang Body' state?
Divine Yang Body, where 'Divine' refers to the 'Shen' of normal sanity (Shenzhi).
Using the [Biao] Talisman could completely separate the Mara-struck aspect!
At that time, following up with a treatment combo of Jizo Mitama + Fenghuang Down + Persona Mask, Caelus felt he might even be able to restore Jingliu's mental state to the age level of Fu Xuan.
Aside from this, he had another method to treat the Mara-struck...
Caelus cupped his chin and nodded to himself. Perhaps he could try it; that would be even more fun!
As joyous thoughts fluttered about, just as Caelus was pondering how to operate, the phone in his pocket let out a string of ding-ding-dong-dong notification sounds. Caelus took it out to look; unsurprisingly, they were messages from Hakimi and March 7th.
Stelle was showing off her results from the past few days.
Upon learning that Caelus had left the Xianzhou for urgent business at the Herta Space Station, Stelle had been working from dawn till dusk these past few days, swearing to catch all the treasure chests in one fell swoop during Caelus's absence!
She had been hoping Caelus would stay at the Herta Space Station for a while longer; the days with no one fighting her for treasure chests were simply too happy!
As everyone knows, happiness is conserved. If Stelle is happy, the smile on March 7th's face gradually disappears.
Stelle definitely couldn't be allowed to go find chests alone! Otherwise, with Hakimi firing on all cylinders—dismantling stall wheels, using a baseball bat to smash porcelain jars, disassembling smart trash can parts, robbing cycranes of their deliveries, destroying public property...
March 7th would have to run to the Realm-Keeping Commission's temporary detention center every day. She might even have to endure the Realm-Keeping Commission officers' verbal education alongside Stelle. It was simply a nightmare!
It would be better to just watch over Stelle properly from the start. Even if she really had to destroy some things to get the crystals out, they could settle it privately!
The 3 billion credits Jing Yuan promised Caelus and Stelle for capturing the Stellaron Hunter Kafka had arrived. The two split it evenly, 1.5 billion each.
Although this money might not even match a fraction of the pink little rich girl's monthly allowance, it was enough for the two of them to spend lavishly for a long time.
[Want to take Asta's surname: Hey, Hakimi, your days of opening chests unscrupulously on the Luofu are over. Hand over the crystals!]
[Want to take Fu Xuan's surname: If you want them, you have to come get them yourself. You've known the rules for a long time.]
[Want to take Asta's surname: Plagiarizing my ID. Chibi Herta middle finger.jpg]
[Want to take Fu Xuan's surname: Chibi Stelle pulling eyelid sticking out tongue bleh bleh bleh.gif]
Sitting on the starskiff returning to the Grotto-Dust Inn in winter, Caelus chatted on his phone with Stelle and March 7th.
As for why he didn't use the Shadow World to move quickly, the reason was simple: there is no cell phone signal inside the Kingdom of Shadows. Wouldn't it be nice to leisurely head back while chatting and scrolling through videos?
[Playing cards with my life (Note: Little Qingque): Old Caelus, you're back on the Xianzhou?]
Looking at the message popup that suddenly jumped out, Caelus, who was thinking about what ID to change to, randomly changed it to one.
[I want to slack off: How did you know? Did you calculate it? A diviner's fingers are so useful, can you lend them to me?]
[Playing cards with my life: Divination uses more than just fingers, you know. Let me tell you, this stuff is really hard. Just the basics took me several months to basically master, and I'm not sure if people from outside the Xianzhou can learn it.]
Seeing Caelus's message, Qingque mistakenly thought he was interested in divination and added a few more sentences.
[I want to slack off: I smell the scent of Versailles. Stelle sharp eyes.jpg]
It only took several months to basically master?
Listen, is that human language?
Although Caelus wasn't sure exactly how many basics were involved in Xianzhou divination, among the diviners who entered the Divination Commission—excluding the extremely rare masters who controlled their scores—who hadn't spent decades or even a century studying and preparing for exams before finally getting on shore?
[Playing cards with my life: No, no, it was a slip of the tongue. It took a few years.]
[Playing cards with my life: By the way, Old Caelus, since you're back, when are you free?]
Qingque changed the subject.
[I want to slack off: I should be free all day tomorrow.]
[Playing cards with my life: Really? Guaranteed not to flake this time?]
Caelus looked at Qingque's message and sent a sticker of Chibi Stelle sneering.
On the night Caelus and Qingque first met, Little Qingque had sent a message to Caelus, saying she knew who the mysterious diviner was who had summarized the Celestial Jade gameplay from ancient texts! She invited Caelus out to plot great things together.
Unfortunately, at that time, Caelus was juggling two planets and also had to control Bronya's body to deal with the Stellaron spirit who wanted to snuggle with her, so he didn't notice the phone message.
By the time he saw the message, it was already the next morning.
Caelus replied to Qingque; plotting great things was definitely a must! However, because he had to proceed with the 'Hunting Mom Plan' with Stelle first to get money, Caelus wasn't sure when he would have time, so he could only push this matter back for a while.
After catching Kafka, he had intended to go find Little Qingque, but before Caelus could even move his feet, Sparkle had come looking for him.
Coo~!
After acting in a play with Sparkle, before he could rest for a moment, he received the mission to save Tingyun. Speed of life and death, matters of human life couldn't be delayed, right?
Coo~!
After coming back, he planned to message Qingque, but ended up running into Guinaifen and Jingliu first.
Coo~!
Delaying again and again like this, he had flaked on Little Sparrow several times.
Caelus felt this couldn't be blamed on him. It was really because Little Qingque was too much of a slacker. If Qingque had a bit of ambition and triggered a system mission for him...
Look at him...
Ding~!
[Companion Mission: Make Celestial Jade Great Again!]
[Mission Description: Even a salted fish (slacker) has dreams deep in their heart. Help Qingque perfect the gameplay and rules of Celestial Jade, promote it within the Xianzhou and even the galaxy, and set off a second wave of Celestial Jade fever.]
[Mission Reward: 160 to 800 Crystals, depending on the promotion and popularity of the Celestial Jade tiles.]
"Huh? How much? How much? 160 to 800?"
Caelus was a bit dazed when he saw the mission reward amount. He took a deep breath, his eyes widening in disbelief, and his phone almost fell to the ground.
What is this situation?
[Do not get excited yet. The full name of this Companion Mission is a Long-Term Phased Companion Mission. The mission settlement cycle is long, and rewards are issued in stages.]
The system's voice rang out in Caelus's mind.
"Oh, so that's it." Caelus twitched his lips, his excited mood instantly calming down as he reverted to his salted fish state.
A long-term mission. Then it's fine.
Uh, wait! That means it's not fine!
[I want to slack off: I'm free right now. Have you eaten? My treat, consider it an apology for the delays these past few days.]
It was a bit late today, but the majestic ambition to make Celestial Jade great again was like a true star; it would not be extinguished!
[Playing cards with my life: Eh, really? Then I want to go to the Supreme Gourmet Pavilion!]
Qingque didn't stand on ceremony and named the place directly; one look and you could tell she was a Luofu gourmet.
Caelus had delayed for a while, but strictly speaking, it couldn't count as flaking. After all, every time, Caelus had told her in advance that he had a very important emergency.
With Little Qingque's lazy mindset, she wouldn't take this kind of thing to heart. It was just waiting a few days, after all.
Moreover, the two had chatted a bit on their phones.
Both Caelus and Qingque had very outgoing personalities. Coupled with the extremely high compatibility of their slacker mindsets, they quickly became familiar with each other, as could be seen from how Qingque addressed Caelus.
Starskiff Haven. The crescent moon on the night curtain cast down silver brilliance, and starlight was like water.
The Xianzhou Luofu traveled through the galaxy. It had no fixed star or satellites; whether it was the sun or the moon, they were both part of a day-night simulation system. Only the starlight was true starlight.
Caelus and Qingque walked together amidst the fireworks of the human world on the bustling main street.
Because of their height difference, Qingque's steps were inevitably slower than Caelus's.
The young girl lagged half a body length behind Caelus. While taking small bites of the grilled skewer she had just bought from a snack stall, she mumbled indistinctly:
"Didn't we agree that you'd treat me to the Supreme Gourmet Pavilion? Why did you end up fobbing me off with grilled skewers?"
Caelus, who was also gnawing on a skewer, shrugged. "Reservations for the Supreme Gourmet Pavilion are booked out to three years from now. What could I do?"
With a slight flick of his wrist, a bamboo skewer traced a graceful arc in mid-air and landed in the trash can. Caelus narrowed his eyes, staring at Qingque's unremarkable chest, and continued:
"I feel that head chef is a bit too strict about food."
For example, a dish called the Soaring Fresh Duke requires a fish that leaps once every fifty years. Only the three most brittle meat bones from its tail are taken, bathed in a hundred-herb broth, then coated in a paste made from fresh sheep fat, and pan-fried then slow-fried until the meat and bones are crispy.
State again for the record: Caelus is not a pervert. He just didn't expect that after not seeing her for a few days, Qingque would give him a surprise.
Golden light!
There was golden light coming from her chest!
However, given Qingque's size, was it really necessary to wear one?
"Wait three years? If they can only serve one table of guests a day, when will it ever be my turn?"
That is to say, Xianzhou people would see a three-year queue and continue queuing, but outworlders here for tourism could only queue up first and eat it the next time they traveled here.
"As the saying goes, 'Eat no food that is not fine, mince no meat that is not rough.'"
Qingque looked down at her chest and found there was nothing dirty on it:
"In the words of Chef Gao Tang, people on the Xianzhou live for a thousand years, so they must be particular about the way of diet! I think it makes sense."
Qingque wanted to imitate Caelus and throw the bamboo skewer directly into the trash can, but she failed. She could only trot over with a pout to pick up the bamboo skewer and dutifully put it into the trash can.
"By the way, Old Caelus, after we discuss the grand plan, I think you can start a livestream to promote Celestial Jade. You simply have a natural-born livestreaming holy body!"
Clapping her small hands, Qingque laughed, "Hehe."
"Why do you say that?"
"Aiya, stop being modest. This is you, right?"
Qingque took out her Jade Abacus, projected a short video, and shoved it in front of Caelus's face.
Video Title.
[Shocking! Man married to younger sister actually does this kind of thing behind her back. Men fall silent watching it, women weep watching it.]
"Look, underneath there are people mistaking you for a Xianzhou native, saying you might be about to fall into the Mara in a few days and wanting to report you to the Ten-Lords Commission."
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on Patreon. with 50 advanced chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/Leanzin